“You surprise me. Well then, if you really want to know something about Dwarves, we better start at the very beginning:”
“You want to hear the story of Star Trail - well then…”
“Now, the greatest smith of all times was the Dwarven prince Tordol, son of Thiodasch. But that is a long story…”
Way back in history, before Man started claiming this land for its own,in the Thasch mountains there was a Dwarven prince by the name of Tordol, son of Thiondasch, and he was the finest smith on Threa.
His masterpiece should only be made from the very finest forged steel, so he began to wander the mountain ranges of the north with his closest advisors to look for the ores he needed to forge a truly perfect alloy.
First, he came to the Great Peaks, where the Orcs had settled in, and as they refused to pay him the tribute rightfully due a Dwarven prince, Tordol was forced to claim his dues in their blood. It was a gruesome massacre, but Tordol overcame and subjugated them - from that day onwards the Great Peaks were called the Blood Peaks.
But the ore of the Peaks was impure and unacceptable for the forge, so Tordol continued his journey to the north, though the ores of Rhorwhed were not of the kind Tordol was searching for either.
While he continued his journey, Tordol received a sign from Ingerimm. Following this he found an ore, quite unknown until then, in the highest mountain of the Finsterkamm - Dark Soil. From this Dark Soil Tordol forged one masterpiece after another and back in those days the Finsterkoppen Pit was founded. Tordol gave thanks to Ingerimm by devoting a large temple cave to His worship.
Tordol’s son Thiondasch aimed to even surpass the arts of smithery of his father.Believing it was the ore to flaw his forgeworks, he stole all the ore from the Elves and brought it back with him to the Finsterkoppen.
Ingerimm, who could not let this blasphemy go unpunished, in due retaliation took the soul of Thiondasch, placed it into the altar stone of His temple and forged it into anew form. It is said that Thiondasch to this very day is locked there to serve His god.
While returning the ore, Ingerimm became weary of this drudgery. Phexnoticed that fact and submitted a smart trade to Ingerimm: The Dwarves mightkeep some of the ore if He was to receive the very first piece of smith’s work forged from it. Ingerimm accepted the offer but soon it became abundantlyclear that all the remaining ore had to be used up to make just this one piece of forgework. Thus Ingerimm told Thiondasch to forge Star Trail, knowing it would be of no use to the Fox.
“… Now, that isn’t the end of the legend, of course, not by a long shot,but I think if I don’t stop there, you will still be sitting here and listening to me a week from now, so we will call it a day.”
“See, and I was starting to think you’d taken a wrong turn somewhere.That’ll be 5 Ducats each, including a stay for the night. Follow me.”
“Enough talk. Surely, you haven’t come here for that. How about a bit of entertainment? Guaranteed to be pleasantly relaxing.”
“Hey, you haven’t got that kind of money!”
You spend a very pleasant night at the brothel.
You are served a decent meal. It is nourishing and very tasty to boot.
“Star Trail? Did you actually say Star Trail just then? You must be tired of living to utter that name in the presence of Iwain Basiliskslayer! Never mention that word again, did you hear me? We only went there because that stupid woman told us there’d be treasures to be found!”
Madness! That’s what it was! Thousands of those creatures all around us,and Alara had to go in there. Well, she paid the price for her stupidity.Now she’s propped up there, and if I’ve understood it right, then that’s where she’s gonna stay.”
“I mean, I’d only accompanied her in the first place because I’m not the kind of guy who lets a woman go to her doom all alone. But, when I saw that,I made tracks and fast.”
What’s that you say? For the Gods? Don’t talk to me about that! One more word about Them, and I’ll wring your scrawny necks. It’s easy for you totalk. Were you at Grangor before? No, you weren’t. If you had been, you wouldn’t risk your skins for that foul scum now. Yes, I said scum. Thefoulest Lizard magic if you ask me. Have you any idea what they did? They turned a whole town full of Elves into Orcs! Well, almost into Orcsanyway. They still have those pointy ears, but apart from that, they’re Orcs. Now that can only be Lizard magic.
So go ask the Lizards! They say there are some of them around here, just a bit further north in the middle of the swamp. But if you want to ask them any questions, you might just as well fall on a sword right now. You can have mine for it. Ah, what do I care if you walk to your doom. Have fun!
Star Trail! You know, I’ve sent people to meet Boron for less! And if they have it half as bad there as I suspect…”
“Won’t you play something for me? You would make me very happy!”
“That is absolutely wonderful! My deepest thanks. Here, take this for payment: a strong herbal drink. I made it myself. It is a good cure for all kinds of things.”
“I know a lot that might prove helpful to you, but I’d expect you to do mea little favor in return, you know.”
“A favor - a piece of information; you rub my back, I rub yours, that’s the way of the world. But if you want to help me out again, I’m sure I can make some inquiries on this subject for you.”
“What can I say - we’re even! You dealt with a few little things for me, and I gave you a few important bits of information. Now you’ll have to make the best of it…”
“It’s your decision… Okay then - I’ll see you around.”
“Get the Vinsalter here. I need him to translate something for me. The old man lives in Colorful Flight, right at the bank of the Svellt.”
“There is a brooch of mine in the exhibition building next to the temple ofTsa - it’s an heirloom the town more or less stole from me. The brooch is the shape of an ash tree. Bring me that piece of jewelry, and we will see.”
“I’ve got a small package here. Take it to Master Deringorn in the Halls of Might and give him my best.”
“Give me 5 Crowns each, and you can make yourselves comfortable in the barn.”
“Good then, come on in.”
“We haven’t got that kind of money.”
“Well, then stop wasting my time.”
“Sorry, folks, but we’re booked solid.”
“I can’t help you there, I’m afraid.”
“Are you sure?”
“Okay, it was just a question.”
“Dragan sent us.”
“Listen, when I say something, I mean it.”
“I don’t care who sent you. There is no room at the moment.”
“Hmm, well, that’s different. Let’s see now, maybe if I…”
“All right then, we’ll find a way somehow or other.”
“Artherion? He left after his mill burned down. He was quite lucky he managed to get out of it in time, that’s for sure. Anyway, he left town after that, and has never shown his face around here since then.”
“They say he lives somewhere up north or east far into the middle of theBarrens, but those are probably just rumors. After all, how would they know? In any case, he is said to refuse to talk to anybody.”
We have been told by Dragan to bring the Vinsalter to see him.That doesn’t seem too difficult. In exchange for our completing this task, he has offered us information - something we can definitely use.
Dragan gives us just one piece of information per completed mission. This time,we’ve been told to perform a break-in for him. If we were to claim we like it,we’d have to lie.
Dragan had another task for us: simply delivering a package… Somehow, that’s too easy. The addressee is one Master Deringorn, and he can usually be found in the Halls of Might. We are wondering where the catch is in this mission, ‘cause there must be a catch somewhere.
Brin Vaskendantz at the Fox’s Corner may be able to put us up for the night. Dragan told us to mention his name there in any case.
You can get food at Raisha Rotenegger’s in the south of town. Of course,that piece of information came from Dragan who we’ve been told to mention.
Dragan has sent us to Black Jandora. We’ll soon see if there really is a secret exit from this town.
To get reasonably priced weapons, we can go to see Falkert Duberwin way up north at the Easter Wall. There too, Dragan’s name is the key.
“I can’t tell you anything about that.”
“I can’t help you with that.”
“I do not have the foggiest.”
“Sorry, I don’t have any idea about that!”
“Well, I’d prefer to change the topic.”